Estate

October 25th

I thought the add had been a typo, but it turns out it was real. 5000$ for a three-story mansion? I had two separate inspectors go over it and they said that other than a bit of peeling paint, the place was in great shape.

The realtor told me that it was because the previous owners, who are now deceased, had set the price at 5k, when 5k was worth so much more than it is now. And now, due to some kind of legal loophole, the price was not adjusted for inflation. He also told me that because it was a bit out of the way (you need to drive down a dirt road to reach it), not many people were interested in living way out here. For me though, it’ll be a great place to write the sequel to the novel. Parker’s been up my ass trying to get me to finish it, so a quiet place like this will be great. Samantha will also have plenty to do around the house and Taylor will have a great time exploring its many rooms and the surrounding forest.

I paid him cash, and he handed me the keys.

October 28^th

Moving day! The station wagon’s all packed and Taylor is saying goodbye to some friends. He’s making a big deal out of it, we’re only moving a few hours away. I guess to him that’s an ocean.

Samantha and I got into a bit of a fight last night. She’s not happy that I made the decision without consulting her. I did however convince her that this was the best move financially until I can get my book written. Once that’s done, we can move back into town. And with a bit of love and sweat that house could net us a hundred times more than what I paid for it.

I hate fighting with Sam...I'm so lucky to have her.

October 29^th

The house is even more massive than I had originally remembered. Though I had gotten the tour, I feel like I’m seeing a lot of rooms for the first time.

We decided to keep the old furniture in the house for now until we can sell it all as an estate’s sale. Some of the stuff in here dates back to the 1930’s, a real antique-dealer’s dream.

We spend the day unpacking and cleaning the kitchen, living room, our bedroom and Taylor’s. Taylor seemed to be a hesitant when he walked in the house originally, and I don’t blame him. It is a bit spooky. But hey, this could be great inspiration for my sequel.

Samantha has been exploring the rooms and tells me that there’s a weird smell coming from some of the ventilation ducts in some of the rooms near the back of the house. She also said that she heard some kind of noise like scratching. I told her it’s definitely mice, the house is so old and they sometimes scurry in the walls. Nothing an exterminator can’t fix once my book goes to publishing and we get the rest of the advance.

October 30^th

A bit of a scare today. Taylor somehow got lost in the house. We could hear him screaming, his voice resonating through the vents, the smelly ones. The cellar was the first place I looked and I swear I didn’t see him or hear him the first time I went. And call me crazy but I thought I heard whispers coming from the stone wall. I went back upstairs and kept looking for Taylor, but then Sam went down to the cellar again and found him there. Maybe he was hiding under some of the old covered furniture down there? I don’t think he was playing a trick on us because he seemed so scared. We told him many times not to go down there because there’s no electricity and the dirt floor might have broken glass or nails. I’m installing a padlock on the door to the cellar tomorrow.

October 31^st

Taylor and Sam are in town two hours away into town so he could go tricker treating with his friends. So obviously what I had heard couldn't have been them. The voice sounded so real, like if I'd known it all my life.

It started when, for reasons I couldn't really put my finger on, I realized I couldn't find my watch, Dad's old watch. I must have lost it somehow when I was looking for Taylor. I turned the house upside down until I saw the cellar door, the fresh lock gleaming silver. I went down and lo and behold, there it was, on the ground.

That's when I heard the voice, like a moan. It came from the wall. I went up and put my hand against it and felt a rush of air, and realized the rock was loose. I pulled it away and found something inside, wrapped in old cloth.

It was a book. It's written in some kind of old eastern European language from what I can tell, but it wasn't the writing that caught my eye. It was the illustrations.

I took it back up to my study and it's sitting open beside me now. The book must have been printed using a very old technique because, while not handwritten, the font is unlike anything I'd ever seen on older typewriters. And again, the drawings and symbols were fascinating. Odd circular shapes accompanied by humanoid figures which appear disfigured and other beings akin to demons in all manners of cacophony. And just as I had hoped, Bing! My mind sprang with ideas.

I started copying the strange symbols in my notebook to try and reproduce later in my book, but not long after starting I started feeling sick. So I drank some seltzer water and now I'm just going to get some sleep.

November 1st

I woke up screaming from a terrible nightmare and scared Sam. Then I couldn't get back to sleep. I dreamt that Sam and Taylor were...let's not write it here. In my book however, it could be useful.

Taylor told me he had fun tricker-treating, and I'm glad. Now he's running around the house, chasing what he calls the "Khozom", a multi-mouthed monster that lives in the house and moves through the walls. Good thing he has his trusty proton pack to protect us! Seriously, Parker should give Taylor a book deal.

Sam is saying she felt something touch her today in the kitchen, said it wrapped around her ankle and tripped. I couldn't find any snakes or rope or anything, so I don't know what she's going on about. Seriously, sometimes she gets under my skin with her complaining.

I spend another 3 hours copying the symbols from the tome I found. When I copy them it's like if my hand is moving on its own, and I become transfixed. They're just...so beautiful.

November 3rd.

Goddamnit Sam is pissing me off. First she complains about seeing things in the mirror and now she says she woke up with eyes hovering above her face. It's just a nightmare for fuck's sake, I've been getting them too. And Taylor's been a pain in the ass, crying at night, telling me that "they want to eat him". Who Taylor, who? Fucking no one that's who.

Seriously, sometimes I just wish they'd leave me the fuck alone.

November 6th

The more I look at the symbols from the tome the more they make sense, like if I know what they're saying. The more I'm convinced that they're speaking to me.

Last night I dreamt that I took a pick axe to the wall in the cellar and revealed staircase going down. At the bottom there's a large circular room with a hole in the center. I dropped a rock down and it made no sound. The walls in the room are covered in the same symbols as the book. And I felt like I knew them, and they knew me. They said: "Shed the light the bring forth the Eternal, the true fire of existence and being".

Yes. Yes, I want to. What? No, wait...yeees. I do. Soon.

November 10th

Read last night's entry and I do not remember writing it. Really weird.

November 12th

That's it, I've had enough. Taylor and Sam have tested my patience long enough! I knew this would happen I knew it! Just like the symbols said. Sam kept fucking whining and crying, saying that she found Taylor with gashes on his body and that he's catatonic when I know for a fact he's fucking faking it. She tried to leave, like they told me she would, so I locked us in when she was sleeping and nailed the windows down. She's begging me to leave, to let them go, like a fucking whore. So I hit her because she deserved it, and then I hit her again, hard enough to stun her. Then I brought her to the cellar.

Then I went back upstairs and got Taylor. He was awake from his state of fake paralysis, fucking knew it. He told me to stay away, and to "give him his dad back". I told him I was right here, that nothing's wrong. He resisted when I picked him up but he's a little weakling. I brought him to the cellar with his whore of a mother. I locked the door and went back to my study, where I could keep working on the book in peace.

That'll teach them to bother me while I work.

November 13th

He calls me. Khozom is with me. But..something is wrong. He wants Sam and Taylor. And...no, wait, I don't want this. Sam is...she's my wife, I love her! Do I? Taylor...my little Spengler...

I...I have to leave. I have to get them out of the cellar. Dear god what have I done.

Date unknown.

I'm in the cellar with Sam. I told her I was sorry, but she's not speaking, not moving. Taylor has been standing at the edge of the hole for hours, and I can't move him...it's like he weighs a ton...

Sam...Taylor...I'm so sorry...

The symbols. They're glowing. The room is...it's spinning...and...

Something's coming out of the hole. Something is co-